The present invention relates generally to an electrical connector assembly and more particularly to a plug and receptacle connector assembly having biased guide means.
Electrical connector assemblies which utilize plug and receptacle connectors are well known in the art. Typically, these connectors are used on the ends of cables which mate with and provide an interface, or input/output connection with computers or other electronic devices. These type of connectors include a large number of contacts which must be properly mated together to ensure proper connection of the circuits. In order to retain the plug and receptacle components together when interengaged together, one of the plug and receptacle components (typically the plug component) is equipped with screws which extend forwardly of the plug component and which are received in threaded holes formed with the receptacle component. After the plug and receptacle components are mated together, the screws are turned to engage the holes of the receptacle component to keep the plug and receptacle components of the connector assembly in an engaged, mating condition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,301 issued Jun. 15, 1993, discloses an electrical connector assembly in which the receptacle component has threaded holes which receive the threaded heads of screws of the plug component. The threaded holes have a cylindrical outer guide portion with a key therein which receives keyways formed in the opposing threaded screws so that the male and female connector components may be aligned together and identified in terms of the keys and keyways. The bores have axial keys formed thereon which received within keyways of the pins in order to provide alignment between the two connector components.
However, in using this type of electrical connector assembly, the connector plug and receptacle components are mated together before engaging the screws into the threaded holes. It is therefore likely that the terminals of the connector plug and receptacle components may be put into an incorrect mating position, thus causing undesired interference therebetween and sometimes deforming some of the male and female terminals and even damaging the connector plug or receptacle components.
In this electrical connector assembly, the holes and screws make up a guiding mechanism, but the mating of the male and female connectors is effected simultaneously with the coupling of the screws in the threaded holes, and therefore, interference or misalignment between the connector component male and female terminals cannot be completely eliminated. Also, such an electrical connector assembly disadvantageously requires extra parts such as the keys and the keyways formed therein.
Another style of plug-receptacle connector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,892, issued Mar. 12, 1991 wherein the plug component of the connector assembly is provided with two axially extending guide pins which are received in corresponding alignment cavities formed in the opposing receptacle component. These guide pins project forwardly of the plug component leading edge but do not firmly encounter the receptacle component alignment holes/openings until such time as the male and female terminals of the connector components are engaged together and thus, the possibility of misalignment between the plug and receptacle components exists.
With the increasing emphasis being currently placed on the reduction in size of electronic devices, interfacing and connecting cables are required to carry more circuit wires and the connectors associated with such cables are also required to accommodate more circuits. More circuits in a connector assembly mandates smaller contacts. Smaller contacts are more fragile and more susceptible to damage when the connector components are misaligned in their engagement with each other, and thus a need exists for an electrical connector assembly with a guide means which aligns the connector components together prior to mating of the connector components together.
The present invention is therefore directed to an electrical connector assembly with an improved guide means which substantially ensures proper alignment and mating of opposing, interengaging connector components in a manner which reduces the risk of misalignment between the terminals of the connector components.